Southeast Asia

The Southeast Asia’s biggest economy is widely blamed for failing to equip students with the skills to find jobs. As a flood of young people enters the workforce, President Joko Widodo, who seeks re-election on April 17, has pledged to develop human capital in his second term, after focusing on roads, railways and airports since taking office in 2014. In a vice presidential debate this week, partly focused on education, opposition candidate Sandiaga Uno attacked Widodo’s record and his signature program to improve one of the world’s biggest vocational high school systems. "How ironic it is that this country’s economy is the world’s 15th or 16th biggest, but faces difficulties providing jobs for its youth," Uno said, adding that Indonesia’s vocational school graduates are the largest chunk of its 7 million unemployed. Uno, who is running alongside retired general Prabowo Subianto, promised to cut youth unemployment by 2 million if elected. Widodo and … [Read more...] about Job skills for young Indonesians a key concern ahead of election

He was allowed to go free pending an appeal, in a case that has caused an outcry in a country fed up with impunity for powerful figures. Construction magnate Premchai Karnasuta, whose company is behind major infrastructure projects such as Bangkok's monorail and its airport, was arrested by rangers in a national park in February 2018. He and three others were detained after rangers stumbled upon their campsite and found guns and animal carcasses, including a Kalij pheasant, a red muntjac -- or barking deer -- and the pelt of a black leopard. While Premchai was found not guilty of possessing a leopard carcass, he was convicted of three other poaching-related charges. The verdict, handed out in a statement to reporters waiting at Thong Pha Phum courthouse, said Premchai was "sentenced altogether to 16 months". Two others caught with him his driver and cook received lesser sentences, while his hunting guide was sentenced to three years and five months. A court official said the tycoon was … [Read more...] about Thai tycoon convicted, bailed in black leopard poaching case

Activists have mourned the death as one of the worst cases of poisoning they have seen. Environmental groups have tagged the Philippines as one of the world's biggest ocean polluters due to its reliance on single-use plastic. That sort of pollution, which is also widespread in other southeast Asian nations, regularly kills wildlife like whales and turtles that ingest the waste. In the latest case, a Cuvier's beaked whale died on Saturday in the southern province of Compostela Valley where it was stranded a day earlier, the government's regional fisheries bureau said. The agency and an environmental group performed a necropsy on the animal and found about 40 kilograms of plastic, including grocery bags and rice sacks. The animal died from starvation and was unable to eat because of the trash filling its stomach, said Darrell Blatchley, director of D' Bone Collector Museum Inc., which helped conduct the examination. "It's very disgusting and heartbreaking," he told AFP. "We've done … [Read more...] about Dead whale in Philippines had 40 kg of plastic in stomach

More than three dozen people remain missing, while scores have been injured in the disaster, triggered by torrential rain and landslides. "The death toll could still go up with 43 people unaccounted for," said national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho. Rescuers battled mud, rocks and fallen trees in the hunt for survivors, as medical personnel treated the wounded and thousands were evacuated from the northeastern town of Sentani. Amid the devastation, however, a baby has been reunited with his father after soldiers plucked the five-month old from rubble inside a house where his mother and siblings were found dead. The tot has since been returned to his surviving father. "We took him to the hospital and had him treated," Papua military spokesman Muhammad Aidi told AFP. "He was in stable condition and has been released. The father was distressed but happy to be reunited with his baby." The military said 5,700 people have been evacuated from the hard-hit area. "We have over … [Read more...] about Indonesia flood death toll jumps to 77

The floods in Sentani, near the provincial capital of Jayapura, were triggered by torrential rain and landslides on Saturday, leaving some 59 people injured. Dozens of homes were damaged by floodwaters, national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said. "The number of casualties and impact of the disaster will likely increase as search and rescue teams are still trying to reach other affected areas," he added. "The flash floods were likely caused by a landslide." The waters had receded but officials were still trying to evacuate people from hard-hit areas. "The joint search and rescue teams are still doing evacuations and not all affected areas have been reached because of fallen trees, rocks, mud and other material," Nugroho said. In Doyo, one of the most affected areas, a housing complex was littered with huge rocks believed to have rolled down from a nearby mountain, according to an AFP reporter at the scene. Video footage showed rescuers administering oxygen to a … [Read more...] about Flash floods kill at least 50 in Indonesia’s Papua